Thursday, February 25, 2010

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, The dimunitive master blaster from India notched the record book once again , probably for the n'th time in his career that now enters its 21st Year of International cricket. At nearly 37 years young he seems to defy everything we know of eyesight , reflex, speed and Stamina. His thirst for runs and Indian victories seems unquenchable and thankfully so.

Sachin, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly to name but a few are classic examples of the contribution sports medicine , physicall fitness and personal discipline have made to sports today. Considering the quantum of competitive cricket they play it far surpasses the achievements of longevity of all time greats like Sir Len Hutton -who made 50 plus in his last test at the age of 39 , Sir Dennis Compton , who again played till he was 39, John Edrich who played his last test at the age of 41, Sir Garfield Sobers who played till he was 38, The Don played his last test at 40, Tom Graveney played at 42, Cowdrey opened for England at 43 and our own Vinoo mankad who bowled 55 overs in an innings in his last Test at 43. All these greats did play at a fairly advanced age - even for their times.

In fact another thought is - how would they have fared if they were equipped with modern safety gear, bats , pitches etc. But comparisons are always odious - how would Kamalhassan have done if he had worked under Guru Dutt or Sivaji Ganesan for Cecil B Demille ? What more would Einstein or Ramanujam have discovered if they had the benefit of modern super computers ?

The answer is clear - Genius and Class when combined with passion and dedication will always succeed and stand apart. They would have made their mark in any era - The nightmare of most bowlers would be when The Don and Sachin were both batting for the opposite side. Which reminds me of what Shane Warne ( he played till he was 38) said of the little Master -

"I'll be going to bed having nightmares of Sachin just running down the

wicket and belting me back over the head for six. He was unstoppable. I

don't think anyone, apart from Don Bradman, is in the same class as Sachin

Tendulkar. He is just an amazing player"

Some more memorable quotes on the Master.....

"Commit all your crimes when Sachin is batting. They will go unnoticed because even the Lord is watching."

A placard at the SCG when Sachin Tendulkar was on his way to a magnificent century

Nothing bad can happen to us if we're on a plane in India with Sachin Tendulkar on it."

Hashim Amla, the South African batsman, reassures himself as he boards a flight

Yaseer Hameed:

"Sometimes you get so engrossed in watching batsmen like Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar that you lose focus on your job."

"To Sachin, the man we all want to be"

What Andrew Symonds wrote on an Aussie t-shirt he autographed specially for Sachin

BBC on Sachin:

"Beneath the helmet, under that unruly curly hair, inside the cranium,

there is something we don't know, something beyond scientific measure.

Something that allows him to soar, to roam a territory of sport that,

forget us, even those who are gifted enough to play alongside him cannot

even fathom. When he goes out to bat, people switch on their TV sets and

switch off their lives "

"But the finest compliment must be that bookmakers would not fix the odds -or a game - until Tendulkar was out."

"Tuzhe pata hai tune kiska catch chhoda hai?"

Wasim Akram to Abdul Razzaq when the latter dropped Sachin's catch.

Brian Charles Lara:

"Sachin is a genius. I'm a mere mortal."

"We did not lose to a team called India...we lost to a man called Sachin"

Mark Taylor, during the test match in Chennai (1998)

M. L. Jaisimha:

"The more I see of him the more confused I'm getting to which is his best knock."

Glenn McGrath:

"The joy he brings to the millions of his countrymen, the grace with which he handles all the adulation and the expectations and his innate humility -all make for a one-in-a-billion individual"

Anjali:

"I can be hundred per cent sure that Sachin will not play for a minute longer when he is not enjoying himself. He is still so eager to go out there and play. He will play as long as he feels he can play"

Matthew Hayden:

"I have seen God, he bats at no. 4 for India"

Anil Kumble:

"I am fortunate that I've to bowl at him only in the nets!"

Shahrukh Khan-

"Q: Who do you think as most important celebrity ?

Shahrukh: There was a big party where stars from Bollywood and cricket were

invited. Suddenly, there was a big noise, all wanted to see the approaching

Amitabh Bachhan. Then Sachin entered the hall and Amitabh was leading the

Sachin.His reflex time is the best I have ever seen. Its like 1/20th of a

sec.To get his wicket better not prepare. Atleast you wont regret if he

hits you for boundaries."

Peter Rebouck, Aussie journalist:

"On a train from Shimla to Delhi, there was a halt in one of the

stations.The train stopped by for few minutes as usual. Sachin was nearing

century, batting on 98. The passengers, railway officials, everyone on the

train waited for Sachin to complete the century.This genius can stop time

in India!!"

NKP Salve, former Union Minister (This was when he was accused of ball

tempering):

"Sachin cannot cheat. He is to cricket what (Mahatma) Gandhiji was to

politics. It's clear discrimination. "

Andy Flower:

"There are 2 kind of batsmen in the world. One Sachin Tendulkar. Two all

the others."

Hansie Cronje:

"I had to remind Gary Kristen often that he was in the covers to field

against Sachin not to applaud him"

Shane Warne:

"You have to decide for yourself whether you're bowling well or not. He's

going to hit you for fours and sixes anyway."

During the Bangalore Test, frustrated, Michael Kasprowicz went to Dennis

Lillee and asked, "Mate, do you see any weaknesses?" Lillee replied, "No

Michael, as long as you walk off with your pride that's all you can do."

"Cricket is my religion, Sachin is my God"

"What do you call a critic of Sachin Tendulkar?Atheist"

"Indian defeat was God's way of saying... 'I exist'. He was threatened that

Sachin would take over"

Ravi Shastri:

"Sachin has been sent by God to play cricket and then go back."

Ajay Jadeja:

"I can't dream of an innings like that. He exists where we can't."

Adam Hollioke:

"In an over I can bowl six different balls. But then Sachin looks at me

with a sort of gentle arrogance down the pitch as if to say 'Can you bowl

me another one?'"

Paul Strang:

"What we (Zimbabwe) need is 10 Tendulkars."

Dennis Lillee:

"If I've to bowl to Sachin, I'll bowl with my helmet on. He hits the ball

so hard."

Sir Donald Bradman:

"I saw him playing on television and was struck by his technique, so I asked my wife to come look at him. Now I never saw myself play, but I feel that this player is playing much the same as I used to play, and she looked at him on Television and said yes, there is a similarity between the two...his compactness, technique, stroke production... it all seemed to gel !"

Desmond Haynes:

"In terms of technique and compactness, Tendulkar is the best."

Sir Viv Richards:

"I think he is marvellous. I think he will fit in whatever category of

Cricket that has been played or will be played, from the first ball that

has ever been bowled to the last ball that’s going to be. He can play in

any era and at any level. I would say he’s 99.5% perfect."

Mohammad Azharuddin:

"The more I see him, the more I want to see him."

Steve Waugh:

"We won with ten, but lost to one"

Harsha Bhogle:

"For every ball Sachin has two shots in his mind. And he gets out when he

Musings on the Master is a nice hobby, as it has an positive effect on our outlook, makes us acknowledge another souls work and bow in front, brings a smile on our face and last but not the least freshens our attitude toards life and makes us say with a shrug, " so what if i age?". Thanq!!!

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Me...

I am an actor in Tamil Films and TV & a management Graduate from XLRI. I have acted in about a 100 Films and over 4000 TV episodes. I am also a Corporate Trainer and use movies as a tool to teach .This experiential type of learning with games,movies etc has worked well with people from all areas and levels of Management. As a Philatelist my interests are Stamps on Cinema and I have a huge collection of Stamps on this subject.I have also been instrumental in the Postal Authorities honouring several doyens of the film industry by bringing out Special Day Covers and in a few cases Postage Stamps as well.I regularly give lectures on Film related subjects and have spoken about Chennai in Cinema, Nagesh , Chandrababu, Kishore Kumar, M.R.Radha to name a few. I have written articles on Famous Film personalities in The Hindu, madras Musings, Satyam Cinema magazine etc.

About Me

I can boldly state that I am South India's only ENTERTRAINER. I use Cinema and my experience of nearly 20 Years in it to conduct Training programs and Lectures in English and TAMIL on Communication , Team Work , Leadership , Personal Growth , Planning etc. These are peppered with anecdotes and stories from the Film Industry. I use Hollywood , Bollywood and Kollywood films depending on the audience.

I also collect Postage Stamps on Cinema and my collection has been awarded a few medals at State and National level comptitions.

I give lectures on film related subjects - I have spoken to a wide variety of people from Judges of the High Court to Lovers of Cinema and Chennai City.

I am married to Padma - (since 1979) and we have two children. My son V.P.Raman is a practicing advocate and is married to Sowmyah , they are blessed with a son - my grandson - Rudra. My daughter Vidyullekha is a succesful actor in Tamil and Telugu films.

I was recently awarded "Distinguished Alumni Award" by my alma mater - XLRI , where I did my MBA - 1978 batch of PGDBM. I have also been awarded the Tamil Nadu State Govt Award for best character award.